A couple of cold days in a row made today’s 38 degrees and sunshine feel downright balmy. After finishing up a little of this and that at home, I layered up and hopped on the bike to head to campus. It was so warm I didn’t even need my fancy pants gloves! I flew down the hill on Maryland, went around that growing sinkhole just on the other side of North Avenue (can we at least spray paint around the thing?), and then up through Bolton Hill and Marble Hill. Continue reading
West Baltimore
Salon Nine-E at Beechfield, West, & Ridge in Arbutus
Yep, I’m back at school again, this time teaching a three and a half week winter session course. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I’d rather be lazily reading, writing, and bicycling instead. Due to this resistant attitude, I spent my morning getting a massage and then stopping by a music store with S., who needed to do little to get me to shell out for a ukelele. Yeah, it’s time to pick up a new hobby, and besides, a ukelele is small. I could take it camping on my bicycle. But alas, it was finally time to get myself to school, and S. kindly dropped me and my bicycle there. And guess what? Continue reading
Christmas Lights on a Row House on Hollins & Pulaski
It was cold out and I’ve got a little cold, but sometimes you just need to ride your bike, so I decided to put on my fancy wool top (thanks, Pops!), tights, long sleeved socks, and some gloves (thanks, S.!) and pedaled over to campus. The sun was out and I traced my regular route, thinking about my first visit to Baltimore. Continue reading
Blighted Building at Gilmor & Lafayette
It was a beautiful day and the sky was the color of what you think a blue sky should be, and I wrote my words, listened to my songs, got to meet withthe folks who I think think like me, and had plans for my evening, so all that was left was a bike ride. I happily pedaled to campus, feeling good, through West Baltimore. And then there are scenes like this, everywhere, the burnt-out abandoned houses of a city in decay. It’s complicated, to live in a city and pay attention.
Painted Train at Hollins & Lipps
It has suddenly turned cold in Baltimore, so I bundled up a little extra as I took my bike out to ride to campus for an afternoon “party” with the Dean and some new colleagues. The fancy fleece jacket kept me warm, but the headwind was strong enough to keep me pedaling, even on the big downhills. Sigh. Fortunately, I was in a chipper mood, so pedal, pedal, pedal I did, and it felt good. I wonder if I’ll ever get over the pleasure of the rhythmic round-and-round of the bicycle–let’s hope not. The commute now feels like it comes in four parts: down the hill, taking a right/going west, the uphilly part, and Arbutus. I snapped this picture as I took the soft left onto Lipps from Hollins. I’m guessing that used to be a brick wall, and now it’s just the remnants of one, but the leftover bits do look like a train, which is what I think is painted on here. There are so many scenes like this all over town, helped along by the seemingly endless remainders that make up Baltimore City and its canvases. But this is a pretty face to paint on the block after block after block of crumbled, abandoned, blighted, burned, and decaying homes and businesses that make up that 9.2 miles ride. But really, sometimes, what are you going to do? Gotta put some beauty in here.
Quiet Has Its Own Set of Problems at Fayette & Fulton
It was like springtime in Baltimore today. The sun was out, the sky was this ridiculous shade of blue, and I had time to ride my bicycle all the way to work. I made a couple of stops, to vote and to pick up a video from the library, exercising both the rights and privileges of citizenship, and then I pedaled down to Fayette, took a right, and just kept going. Continue reading
Royal Theater Monument at West Lafayette and Pennsylvania Avenue
I left my car on campus yesterday so I could sit in J.’s car as he drove us all the way to Gaithersburg for a most excellent, if overwrought and heavy handed, movie at the weird mall with the restaurant that served me fries with my falafal. I can leave my car wherever, because the next day, I can always ride my bike wherever, stick my bike on the car, and drive us all home. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 